Planes (2013)

Planes Synopsis

Disney’s Planes is an action-packed 3D animated comedy adventure featuring Dusty (voice of Dane Cook), a plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. But Dusty’s not exactly built for racing—and he happens to be afraid of heights. So he turns to a seasoned naval aviator who helps Dusty qualify to take on the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights he never dreamed possible, giving a spellbound world the inspiration to soar.

The crawl begins as a begrudging reunion of a bunch of men who are no longer friendly, but when Nick Frost, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright are involved, fans are in for something a little spookier and more spectacular. In this case, as the night wears on, the former friends determine there is something more sinister afoot.

To be expected, the foreign films are the meatier bits, and the clear frontrunner to me is Hayao Miyazaki’s historical fantasy The Wind Rises - even though I haven’t seen it yet. It’s the last film for the legendary director, whose Spirited Away took the prize back in 2001.

The Cars's spinoff Planes just hit theaters last August, but already fans of Dusty Crophopper and his high-flying crew can look forward to a sequel. Planes: Fire & Rescue has Dusty leaving behind his racing ambitions to become a fire-fighting hero, putting out forest fires with some brave, rough and tumble planes. Dane Cook will once again lend his voice to Dusty, and Modern Family's Julie Bowen will play a new friend named Dipper.

There was a lot of new movies demanding attention this weekend, and the love from audiences was spread pretty thin.

Number one went to Elysium, banking just $30 million. That's a let down for director Neill Blomkamp whose last rated R sci-fi film (and his first every feature film as well), District 9 managed a $37 million opening in 2009, and that was without big names like Damon and Foster on the billing.

A lot of very different movies are jostling for attention at the box office this weekend, but so far it's the most typical summer blockbuster that's coming out on top. Elysium, the sci-fi film starring Matt Damon and directed by District 9's Neill Blomkamp, was the highest earner on Friday, making $11.2 million on its opening day

Originally intended to go straight to DVD, Disney's Cars spinoff Planes seems like anything but a natural fit for 3D. But, for better or for worse, the studio has committed to releasing all of their films in the 3D format, and this weekend parents of the young kids who can't get enough of Cars will be heading to theaters and asking themselves, "Wait, do I really need to pay extra to get 3D glasses for a four-year-old?"

Bunch of movies on the Rotten slate this week, which means we shouldn’t waste any time getting down to business. This time we’ll take a trip to Elysium, sun some drugs with the Millers, fly a bunch of animated planes and touch base with Percy Jackson again

The animation during the flight-filled scenes looks great; and even if the animation style is still way too cartoonish, at least the film will have a larger-than-average scope and some pretty dazzling effects work to go along with its all-star cast and drab one-liners.

Top Gun stars Anthony Edwards and Val Kilmer were brought on board Planes to lend their voices to two F-18 jets named Bravo and Echo. In the sneak peek above, we get to see them in action, racing against this animated adventure's plucky underdog protagonist Dusty (voiced by stand up comedian Dane Cook) , a crop duster who hopes to overcome his fear of heights to become the world's greatest flyer.

The film follows Dusty's turbulent path from his hometown of Propwash Junction to the Wings Around the Globe rally, where he will battle his own physical constraints and fear of heights to compete for the honor of being named the world's greatest flying machine.

Throughout the film's development, Two and a Half Men star Jon Cryer was lending his voice to Dusty, but now his recorded tracks are being dropped and replaced by stand-up comedian Dane Cook. Considering Disney's Planes is slated to open this summer, this seems a surprising and short notice switch up.

Based on the world and design of Pixar's Cars, the simply titled Planes takes the premise of talking vehicles to the high skies. Originally, this was conceived as a straight-to-DVD release, but last December Disney surprised us by announcing the animated adventure had been promoted to a summer theatrical release. Will it be better than Cars 2? Take a look at its new trailer, and decide for yourself.

You probably know that the Cars universe has been extremely lucrative for the Walt Disney Company. Beyond the two movies created by Pixar, Cars has inspired a massive merchandising system that slaps Lightning McQueen, Mater and the residents of Radiator Springs on everything from lunchboxes to backpacks to coloring books. The franchise does very well on the ground. Can it succeed in the air as well?

There's a pretty wide consensus that Cars is the weakest link in Pixar Studio's back catalog. While it's still better than a lot of other animated films that come out these days, it's simply missing that spark that makes all of the others so wonderful. What's interesting, though, is that Cars also happens to be their most marketable film